1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to methods and systems for formulating and immobilizing a protein matrix and/or enzyme and, in particular embodiments, to immobilizing proteins or enzymes that are physically and chemically stable over time, for example, for use in short-term or long-term sensors and biosensors.
2. Description of Related Art
The combination of biosensors and microelectronics has resulted in the availability of portable diagnostic medical equipment and has improved the quality of life for countless people. Many people suffering from disease or disability who, in the past, were forced to make routine visits to a hospital or a doctor's office for diagnostic testing currently perform diagnostic testing on themselves, in the comfort of their own homes, using equipment with accuracy to rival laboratory equipment.
Nonetheless, challenges in the biosensing field have remained. For example, although many diabetics currently utilize diagnostic medical equipment in the comfort of their own homes, the vast majority of such devices still require diabetics to draw their own blood and to inject their own insulin. Drawing blood typically requires pricking a finger. For someone who is diagnosed with diabetes at an early age, the number of self-induced finger-pricks and insulin injections over the course of a lifetime could reach into the tens of thousands. Drawing blood and injecting insulin thousands of times can be overtly invasive and inconvenient, as well as painful and emotionally debilitating.
Diagnostic requirements of those with disease or disability may be addressed by using a sensing apparatus that may be implanted into the body and that may remain in the body for an extended period of time. For example, an implantable sensing and infusion system is disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/318,060, incorporated herein by reference. An example of the type of implantable sensing system described in that application is illustrated in FIG. 1 herein. The sensing system illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises an implantable infusion pump 12 with a catheter 20 for dispensing an infusion formulation and a lead 14 connecting the infusion pump to a sensing device 16. The sensing device 16 may be inserted into a vein, an artery, or any other part of a human body where it could sense a desired parameter of the implant environment. A window may be provided in the sensing device 16 to facilitate sensing. An active sensing matrix 18, such as an enzyme, may be placed inside of the sensing device 16. The matrix 18 may be any of a variety of enzymes, proteins, or the like, that may be employed for sensing. For example, if physiological parameter sensing is desired, one or more proteins may be used as the enzyme. More specifically, if the device is a glucose-sensing device, for example, a combination of glucose oxidase (GOx) and human serum albumin (HSA) may be used concurrently in a solid matrix form to form a sensor matrix protein.
Previous processes for formulating an enzyme for use in a sensor involved placing the enzyme into a cavity within a sensing device while the enzyme was still in a liquid or gel-like form. In such processes, the gel-like enzyme would be placed into the sensing device cavity, where it would harden in place, within the cavity. A hardening or cross-linking reagent would be added to the enzyme to cause solidification of the enzyme once it was inside the sensing device.
One of the difficulties associated with conventional processes is that of producing protein matrices that are sufficiently chemically stable over time. For example, in the case of glucose biosensors, it has been found that GOx undergoes oxidative inactivation by peroxide and oxygen over time. Since the lifetime of glucose sensors primarily depends on the lifetime of the GOx, the sensitivity of the sensors is lost over time as the enzyme decays. Glucose oxidase goes through a cycle of oxidation and reduction upon interaction with glucose. Glucose oxidase is most vulnerable to deactivation in its reduced state. Hydrogen peroxide, hydroperoxy radicals, and the like, can deactivate GOx, particularly in its reduced state. The glucose oxidase reaction sequence is more thoroughly described and illustrated in FIG. 5.
An additional problem with conventional processes for formulating protein matrices for use in sensing devices is that the sensor matrix protein may not be sufficiently stable mechanically over time. In the case of glucose biosensors, for example, there has been a problem of the GOx not possessing the desired mechanical stability, i.e., that the GOx maintain its shape. Enzymes produced by conventional processes can be susceptible to swelling or shrinking. For example, a conventional process of injecting a GOx solution or gel into a cavity of a sensor body and then hardening the GOx in place can result in shrinkage and disfigurement of the GOx enzyme during hardening. As a result, each sensor produced according to such processes may have a different shaped GOx enzyme and, thus, may behave somewhat different than other sensors made according to the same process. In addition, enzymes can be susceptible to leaching. Sensor accuracy and sensitivity can be adversely affected when the enzyme utilized in the sensor is susceptible to leaching or swelling. Indeed, swelling of the enzyme over time can cause the sensor body to deform. Deformation of the body of the sensor may alter the response or the calibration of the sensor. Moreover, a swelling or leaching of the enzyme may cause the shape of the window in the sensing device to change which also could alter the response of the sensing device.
Further problems have been associated with the process of injecting an enzyme into a sensing device while the enzyme is in a gel form. When an enzyme is injected into a cavity of a sensing device, it is difficult to ensure that the enzyme has filled the volume in the sensing device completely. If there are voids left in the cavity after the enzyme has been injected, those voids can adversely affect the stability and sensitivity of the sensing device. Moreover, since the enzyme may tend to shrink as it hardens or solidifies, further voids or spaces may be left in the enzyme cavity of the sensor.